Artist InSight
Pre-Show Discussion with Lloyd Newson, Artistic Director of DV8 Physical Theatre
Fri, Nov 13, 7 pm • Forum
FREE with To Be Straight With You performance ticket or advance RSVP
A rare opportunity to gain insight into the vision of Lloyd Newson, DV8 Physical Theatre’s daring Artistic Director, who brings To Be Straight with You to YBCA Nov 12–14, a multimedia dance theater piece that examines tolerance, intolerance, religion and homosexuality in the UK.
RELATED EVENTS
Nov 8, 2009: Screening: Two Videos By DV8 Physical Theatre
Nov
12–14, 2009: DV8: To Be Straight with You
Nov 14, 2009: Screening: The Cost of Living • FREE
DV8 Physical Theatre
DV8 Physical Theatre was formed in 1986 and is led by Lloyd Newson. The company has won 19 awards over the last 5 years for it's stage and film works, including a Prix Italia and the Rose D’Or. DV8 Physical Theatre's work is about taking risks, aesthetically and physically, about breaking down the barriers between dance, theatre and personal politics and, above all, communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously. It is determined to be radical yet accessible, and to take its work to as wide an audience as possible.
DV8 is motivated by artistic inspiration and creative need: these, rather than financial, organizational and touring demands dictate the creation of new works. Great emphasis is placed on the process by which new work is created. The company has fought successfully for funding to cover lengthy research and development periods in order to maintain rigorous artistic integrity and quality in each new project. For every one of its works since 1987, DV8 has commissioned set designers and living composers to help investigate the relationship between body, architecture and music. The focus of the creative approach is on reinvesting dance with meaning, particularly where this has been lost through formalised techniques.
DV8's work inherently questions the traditional aesthetics and forms which pervade both modern and classical dance, and attempts to push beyond the values they reflect to enable discussion of wider and more complex issues.
DV8 (Dance and Video 8)'s strong commitment to film and video continues. This reflects its ongoing interest in how two primarily visual media can enhance one another and reach a crossover audience from within both forms. The company's reputation relies on pushing its own boundaries and on the constant re-examination of the roles and relationships of men and women in our society. Its policy insists on the importance of challenging our preconceptions of what dance can, and should, address.
Lloyd Newsom (Artistic Director): Lloyd Newson's work since 1986 as the Director of DV8 Physical Theatre has had a dynamic impact on contemporary dance by challenging the traditional aesthetics and forms which pervade most modern and classical dance. An important aspect of this challenge is his personal rejection of abstraction in dance with his concentration on connecting meaning to movement and in addressing current social issues. His stage and film work with DV8 has consistently received major international awards. His recent film, The Cost of Living, won a Prix Italia and a Rose D'or. Newson's interest in dance arose while studying psychology and social work at Melbourne University, an interest that led to a full scholarship at London Contemporary Dance School. He danced and/or choreographed with many companies—including Modern Dance Ensemble, Impluse Dance Theatre/New Zealand Ballet Company, One Extra Dance Theatre and Extemporary Dance Theatre—before forming his own company.